CM In the literature: open

Measure the emergent-photon $T^3$ heat capacity and speed in quantum spin ice

In plain words

Emergent photons should add a heat capacity growing as the cube of temperature, like lattice vibrations, with a size fixed by the photon speed. Measuring it and matching the speed predicted from the measured interactions would be a sharp test.

Precise statement

In quantum spin ice the photon speed $c$ is set by the ring-exchange scale $g=12J_{\mathrm{pm}}^{3}/J_{\mathrm{zz}}^{2}$ (c ~ g $a$/hbar up to a computed prefactor, a the lattice spacing), and the photon heat capacity per volume is C/V = (4 pi^2/15) k_B (k_B T/hbar c)^3 for two polarizations. Measure $C/T^{3}$ below the photon bandwidth in a candidate material and compare $c$ with the value from independently fitted exchange parameters. An answer is $c$ measured and predicted, with agreement or disagreement within errors.

What would settle it

Heat capacity below about 0.05 K with nuclear and phonon contributions subtracted, compared with the photon speed from neutron spectra and quantum Monte Carlo.

Related problems